Season 2, Episode 5: Behind every summer is a community that keeps Fire Island alive. This episode explores the history of the beloved Pines Pantry through the eyes of its iconic Pantry Girls, alongside the volunteer firefighters of The Pines and Cherry Grove who protect the island from fires, hurricanes, beach erosion, and an uncertain future.
Review: CHRISTINE EBERSOLE WITH BILLY STRITCH at 54 Below Pure Perfection
If tickets can be had, get one immediately.
By: Stephen Mosher
“It doesn’t get better than this.”
That was my date for the show at 54 Below last night. That date was Brady Schwind, former BroadwayWorld Cabaret correspondent, a man with impeccable taste and a knowledge of the history of show business that is greater than my own. If Brady says something is good, you can take it to the bank, and, about half an hour into Christine Ebersole WITH Billy Stritch, he turned to me and whispered those words - it doesn’t get better than this. And he was right. Of course, walking in the door, anyone who had seen the duo before had a reasonable expectation of excellence, but, for some reason, it was surprising just how good they were. It shouldn’t have been a surprise because the two friends have been performing in cabaret and concert for twenty five years. They are celebrating their Silver Jubilee, which was remarked upon during the proceedings, and all those years are showing, not just in the ease with which this Musical Director and his headliner deliver their Master Class of a show, but in the simple adoration that flows from them when they look at each other, when they talk to ease other, when they tease each other. This is one of the great show business pairings, and any chance to see them in action must be taken - even if you have already been to an Ebersole/Stritch show before, don’t think to yourself, “I’ve already seen them, I can skip this one.” Don’t skip it. Just go.
For their latest show, Christine and Billy have created a cabaret show that could be used by other artists as a blueprint. The structure of the evening is beyond critique. The balance of ballad and bounce is complete, with the up-tempos erring on the side of jazz treatments and the lyrical cuts originating out of the catalogues of Broadway and the Great American Songbook. It has been pretty well documented over the years that Ms. Ebersole is a skilled jazz singer, and who better to sing jazz with than Billy Stritch, but when you’re actually in the room with her and hear her transition from “Darktown Strutter’s Ball” to “Bill” or see her segue from “Jersey Bounce” to “Something Good,” it’s difficult to not shake your head in awe, and maybe even notice that your jaw has gone slack. Christine Ebersole is a wonder, and no mistake, and she is in remarkable voice. At one moment last night she actually had an opportunity to belt one sentence and then immediately shift to her soprano for the very next sentence. It was a truly awesome feat to behold. But the success of a cabaret show does not rely, solely, on vocal performance - and this is a bona fide cabaret, Ebersole even mentions it twice during the evening. It’s not a concert, it’s not a set, it’s a cabaret, and it shows in the script. The twice Tony-bestowed actress has scripted a flow to the evening, with stories about her life, her career, her relationship with Billy, her relationship with her husband, the various places she has lived (and worked), and a surprise member of her family who sings around the house but whose identity this writer is going to insist on preserving for the lucky audiences still to come. And these aren’t drive-bys; Christine takes her time with her monologues. She sets them up, she lays down the details, she waits for the punchlines, she holds for the laughs, she slips in the closer, and she moves on. This is one of the most elegant, beautiful, glamorous Leading Ladies of Broadway, but Christine is such an exquisite storyteller that when she talks about household chores and home improvements, you forget the glamour and see your best girlfriend who lives next door, chatting with you across the fence about the broken fridge and the floor tiles that need to be pulled up. She is real. She is relatable. She is the Mary to your Rhoda.
And then she sings.
And then she becomes a Goddess again.
You guys, you’ve just never heard a voice like this before. Even if you’ve heard it before, in real time it’s like you’re hearing it for the first time. And it doesn’t matter if it’s Christine Ebersole just having some fun with a jazz treatment to “Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries” or breaking your heart with a spot-on “Somewhere That’s Green” (bring a hankie), the vocal artistry on display in the basement is breathtaking. And it’s doubled down when Billy gets in the action. It’s no secret that Billy Stritch is my favorite boy singer, so you have to know how happy I was when he and Christine did a fantastic medley of songs from 42nd Street… but he also plays a number of his own, a sensational “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” played directly to Christine, whose facial reactions were those not only of a great actress but a loving friend. (And on the subject of 42nd Street, there is a stunning performance of the title song that ranks as an evening highlight.) These friends and colleagues have orchestrated a performance that is filled with highlights, but it has to be said that the stunning ballads segment is deadly. Deadly in the best way, that is. Do bring along your hankie because you will need it during the seamlessly smooth presentation of (are you ready for it?) “Lush Life,” “It Never Was You,” and two ballads from Grey Gardens. Billy has arranged the four songs into two medleys (mashups?) that are separated only by tumultuous applause - there is no text, there is no talking, there is simply Christine Ebersole basking in the glow (actually, I think she IS the glow) of these supreme compositions, Billy Stritch’s incomparable arrangements, and a rapt audience, ready for the next devastating round of emotions, which she delivers as easily as a person cuts an ice cream cake with a hot knife. It is thirteen of the most perfect minutes you will ever spend in a nightclub (with a divine dessert titled “The Ice Hotel” which is a hidden treat in the setlist). I’d like to say that the section alone is worth the price of admission, but I don’t think you can really put a price on what is happening at 54 Below this week. This is one of those things that arts and antiquities specialists call ‘priceless’ - the show and the duo. Ebersole and Stritch are treasures. They are worth every effort a person makes to see them live and in the act. So do yourself a favor and see them live and in the act.
Billy and Christine are working with an exceptional band made up by Michael O'Brien on Bass, Warren Odze on Drums, and Aaron Heick on Reeds.
See Christine Ebersole With Billy Stritch at 54 Below all week (ending October 31st) at 7 pm. Tickets are HERE.
Visit the Christine Ebersole Instagram HERE.
Billy Stritch’s website is HERE.
Photos by Stephen Mosher
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